We haven't gone yet, but we plan to go in the month of November with 2 other families. One of the families was there a couple of months ago and LOVED it. We've been to Americana twice (also in Niagara Falls) and stayed overnight both times. We really enjoyed it there, and we've heard Great Wolf Lodge is about 4 times bigger! (... and I thought the Americana water park was huge!) We took all our food along and had our meals in the room. That will be our plan at Great Wolf Lodge as well.

Our family just went for a day trip to Niagara Falls yesterday, and we decided to pop into Great Wolf Lodge to take a peek. Well, it is INCREDIBLE! Absolutely HUGE, and it really looks like a lot of fun! But, to be honest, even though there are areas of the water park suitable for young kids (mine fit in this category being 7 and 4 years old), I think most of the waterpark is suitable for kids a bit older than ours. For now, I think Americana is more than enough to suit our family. It's really worth a look, though. If you're in Niagara, there are 2 viewing windows where you can look into the park. You need to enter the main front doors, go up the stairs (past the talking moose and bear), and the 2 windows are right there.

When we stayed at Americana, we stayed in a suite with a mini-fridge and microwave. I am not aware of any of the rooms having complete kitchen facilities, but it sure would be nice! We brought all our own food and ate in the room - picnic style! We made sure the suite had a small table that we could sit at, and we spread a tablecloth on the table and ate a cold picnic-style dinner and brought along breakfast and lunch food for the following day.

Americana (and I believe the same is true of Great Wolf Lodge) allow you to begin using the waterpark at 1 pm on the day of check-in. Check-in is at 3 or 4 pm. The following day, even though check-out is at 11 am, you can use the water park for a good portion of the next day as well. We've been twice to Americana, and on the 2nd visit, we made sure to get there for 1 pm so the kids could get lots of time in the waterpark.

Great Wolf Lodge is quite pricey (but it does look amazing!), but Americana is a little less costly (we thought it was amazing too!). There is also another new water park in Niagara - right near the falls itself (all these water parks are quite new - 2 years old, or less). Here are all the websites if you want to check them out (Americana, Great Wolf Lodge, and 4 hotels connecting to the Fallsview waterpark)

Our family just returned from an overnight stay at the Great Wolf Lodge this past weekend (we went on a PA day to save a few $$ by going on a Friday night vs a Saturday night). We had a great time! We went with 2 other families to celebrate our friends milestone birthday. Our family brought all our own food and drink, and our son was absolutely fine. He wore his Epipen in the pool area because the waterpark area is HUGE, and we wanted his Epipen on him. We have one of those AnaTote carriers for a single Epipen, and it kept the Epipen completely dry - I was very impreseed. From an allergy standpoint, everything went well. We enjoyed Great Wolf Lodge very much. We also enjoyed "Americana" on two previous visits, and I would be hard pressed to recommend one over the other. They are both pretty amazing places. Great Wolf Lodge is just bigger, and the "Great Wolf" theme is carried throughout the entire hotel. We stayed in a standard room with 2 queen beds and a pull-out couch, and it was perfect for our family. The two other families we travelled with stayed in rooms that had a "Kids Kabin" which is a little bunk-bed room within the room, and it's pretty fun, but costs more. If we go again, we would likely stay in the same style room we had last time - it was a very nice room.

Laurensmom, did your family have a good time on your return visit to Americana?

I guess we were at the Great Wolf Lodge on the same day!! We went on Friday (a PA day) too. We had a blast. We got the Kids Kamp room with the bunk beds. Next time we go, we'll just get the standard room. My daughter wasn't too keen on sleeping on the top bunk!
I would say the only downside of the place is the fact that they only have a buffet style restaurant. We went out to Kelsey's for dinner in the Clifton Hill area.

Had a great time on the waterslides! We were all prunes by the end of our trip!! haha

Hey Laurensmom! How funny that we should be at Great Wolf Lodge on the same day?! Wasn't it incredible?!. We had so much fun! After spending two days in the waterpark, we were EXHAUSTED! We would definitely go back... would you? How did you feel it compared to Americana? Everyone in our group said they preferred Great Wolf Lodge, but I honestly liked them both. I would recommend going to Americana if you have a very young family (even though the Americana big slides are good for the older ones) simply because of the kiddie pool area. At Americana, parents are allowed to go down the kiddie waterslides with their little ones, whereas Great Wolf does not allow adults on the kiddie slides. Our kids are old enough to go on the slides alone, but that posed a bit of a problem for parents with little kids not willing to go on their own. Other than that, I felt Great Wolf Lodge is just bigger (but not nessarily better).

I'd definitely go back. I think next time I'd bring my own food though. I liked the Great Wolf Lodge because it had a lot more to offer in terms of waterslides, etc. Especially, since the Americana has really raise their rates too. You get more for your $ at the Great Wolf. I froze when we first walked in and they had those large mechanical talking animals. I thought for sure my son was going to freak out because he's afraid of anything in costume and things like that. Luckily, he had no problem with them...even asked to keep going back to see them. (He probably wanted to make sure they were still there and not wondering around the hotel!! haha)

I thought I saw a sign that said adults could go down those kiddie slides as long as they were accompanied by a child. My kids are old enough to go on their own. Unfortunately for my son, he just missed the height requirements for all the slides except the kidde slides. He did go on the 'family' waterslide (Wooly Mamoth) and had a blast. My favourites were the roller coaster slide and the Vortex. My daughter loved the Lily Pad walk...she felt like she was on Survivor!! haha

We were wiped out too. My daughter actually started nodding off at dinner time. I've never seen her do that. It was quite funny. We went in the morning right at 8:30 for another couple hours before we checked out. When we got in the car to go home, both my kids passed out before we even got on the highway.

We just got back from 4 days at Great Wolf Lodge and my son loved it! The waterpark is indeed huge. I thought I was going to hate it but I actually enjoyed the waterslides! We skipped the buffet restaurant altogether but there is a Pizza Hut so we had that for lunch. The room has a microwave and small fridge so it's handy if you want to bring your own sandwiches. Outside food is not allowed in the waterpark but it's easy to head back to your room and eat. The only food at the waterpark is typical junk food fare... hot dogs, hamburgers, fries, onion rings... We went out for dinner every night and headed to the restaurants I am familiar with and already checked out when I was there in the summer. The Keg (the one at Embassy Suites is much better than the one at the Courtyard Marriott), Hard Rock Cafe and an allergy-aware Italian place called Napoli.

Have anyone on the forum gone to either of these places with a dairy-allergic child and found a safe restaurant? We can find safe food for my oldest with his allergies, but we're finding it a huge challenge to find a safe place for my youngest with his list.

Dairy is the main problem, although I suspect egg would also be a problem even if we didn't have the dairy...

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests

You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot post attachments in this forum